Introduction

.intro: This is the design for the VM implementation on Solaris 2.x (see os.so for OS details). The implementation is in MMsrc!vmso.c (impl.c.vm). The design follows the design for and implements the contract of the generic VM interface (design.mps.vm). To summarize: The VM module provides a mechanism to reserve large (relative to the amount of RAM) amounts of address space, and functions to map (back with RAM) and unmap portions of this address space.

.source: Much of the implementation (and hence the design) was inherited from the SunOS4 implementation. Not that there's any design for that. You'll find the mmap(2) (for the system call mmap()) and the zero(7d) (for the device /dev/zero) man pages useful as well. The generic interface and some generic design is in design.mps.vm.

Definitions

.def: See design.mps.vm.def.* for definitions common to all VMs.

Overview

.over: The system calls mmap() and munmap() are used to access the underlying functionality. They are used in slightly unusual ways, typically to overcome baroque features or implementation details of the operating system.

.over.reserve: In order to reserve address space, a mapping to a file (/etc/passwd as it happens) is created with no protection allowed.

.over.map: In order to map memory, a mapping to /dev/zero is created.

.over.destroy: When the VM is destroyed, munmap() is used to remove all the mappings previously created.

Implementation

.impl.create: VMCreate()

.impl.create.vmstruct: Enough pages to hold the VMStruct are allocated by creating a mapping to /dev/zero (a read/write private mapping), and using initializing the memory as a VMStruct.

.impl.create.reserve: The size parameter is rounded up to page size and this amount of address space is reserved. The address space is reserved by creating a shared mapping to /etc/passwd with no access allowed (the prot argument is PROT_NONE, and the flags argument is MAP_SHARED).

.impl.create.reserve.mmap.justify: mmap() gives us a flexible way to allocate address space without interfering with any other component in the process. Because we don't specify MAP_FIXED we are guaranteed to get a range of addresses that are not in use. Other components must cooperate by not attempting to create mappings specifying MAP_FIXED and an address in the range that the MPS has reserved.

.impl.create.reserve.passwd.justify: Mapping /etc/passwd like this worked on SunOS 4 (so this implementation inherited it). Mapping /dev/zero with prot=PROT_NONE and flags=MAP_PRIVATE does not work because Solaris gratuitously allocates swap (even though you can't use the memory).

.impl.create.reserve.improve: However, it would appears that or-ing in MAP_NORESERVE mapping /dev/zero will reserve address space without allocating swap, so this might be worth trying. That is, with prot=PROT_NONE and flags=MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_NORESERVE. However the following caveat comes from the original implementation: "Experiments have shown that attempting to reserve address space by mapping /dev/zero results in swap being reserved. This appears to be a bug, so we work round it by using /etc/passwd, the only file we can think of which is pretty much guaranteed to be around." So that might not work after all.

.impl.map: VMMap()

.impl.map.zero: A mapping to /dev/zero is created at the relevant addresses (overriding the map to /etc/passwd that was previously in place for those addresses). The prot argument is specified as PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE|PROT_EXEC (so that any access is allowed), the flags argument as MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED. The flag MAP_PRIVATE means that the mapping is not shared with child processes (child processes will have a mapping, but changes to the memory will not be shared). The flag MAP_FIXED guarantees that we get the mapping at the specified address). The zero(7d) man page documents this as a way to create a "zero-initialized unnamed memory object".

.impl.map.error: If there's not enough swap space for the mapping, mmap() will return EAGAIN, not ENOMEM, although you might not think so from the man page.

.impl.unmap: VMUnmap()

.impl.unmap.reserve: The relevant addresses are returned to the reserved state by creating a mapping to /etc/passwd (overriding the map /dev/zero that was previously in place for those addresses). As for VMCreate() (see .impl.create.reserve above) the prot argument is PROT_NONE, but the flags argument has the addition MAP_FIXED flags (so is MAP_SHARED|MAP_FIXED).

.impl.unmap.reserve.offset: The offset argument is specified to be the offset of the addresses being unmapped from the base of the reserved VM area.

.impl.unmap.reserve.offset.justify: Not specifying the offset like this makes Solaris create a separate mapping (in the kernel) each time Unmap is used, eventually the call to mmap() will fail. Specifying offset like this does not cause Solaris to create any extra mappings, the existing mapping to /etc/passwd gets reused.

Document History

• 1998-05-08 David Jones. Incomplete document.
• 2002-06-07 RB Converted from MMInfo database design document.
• 2013-05-26 GDR Converted to reStructuredText.

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